Entering the battlegrounds
Contestants’ cars line up head-to-head to the tune of $5,000
“The AutoShow is the perfect venue to celebrate and reward the best builds from the burgeoning tuner community.” TIM RUTLEDGE PUBLISHER OF PERFORMANCE AUTO & SOUND MAGAZINE
It’s been described as American Idol for tuners.
There’s no singing involved and — thank goodness — no critiques from celebrity judges or awkward eliminations on national television.
Those distinctions aside, some similarities remain between the long-running singing competition and Tuner Battlegrounds: AutoShow Edition, a competition for modified cars that has unfolded over several stages of online voting and is a big hit with showgoers at this year’s Canadian International AutoShow.
Tuner Battlegrounds, owned and operated by Toronto-based Performance Auto & Sound magazine (PASMAG), began with a field of 34 entries, which were then reduced over five stages of voting to produce a champion.
The competition, which has been running for the past five years in Las Vegas and has attracted entrants from all over Canada and the U.S., came to the AutoShow for the first time this year. A $5,000 cash award for the champion — a first for the competition — will be awarded tomorrow.
The winner will also receive an exclusive print feature article published in the pages of PASMAG.
“Our annual championship has been taking the top finalists to the SEMA show in Las Vegas for five years now, and we’re thrilled to be able to bring it home to Canada with this special edition,” said PASMAG publisher, Tim Rutledge. “The AutoShow is the perfect venue to celebrate and reward the best builds from the burgeoning tuner community.”
The field of 34 entries was set in early January, then was pared to the top 16 vote-getters after Stage One and then reduced by half again to the top eight after Stage Two.
The final three rounds, which reduced the field from eight to one, saw competitors matched in a head-to-head format, with the winner being announced Sunday.
One of the biggest perks to making it to the final rounds is the final eight compet- itors have had their cars on display at the show.
The top eight also each receive a $750 cash award to transport their cars to the show, among other inducements.
During the show, competitors have been counting on attendees to boost their vote total to keep advancing. To keep the dream alive, each entrant knew that promotion was the key in their pursuit for more votes. In short, it was all about getting the word out.
“PASMAG’s editors prepare each entrant’s profile with the provided photos, specs and stories behind the builds. Competitors then promote their personalized page throughout their social networks of family, friends and club members, asking them to vote for them,” Rutledge said.
“The unique head-to-head battles provide for lively engagement across the platform as competitors fight for every vote. With showgoers being able to vote on-site throughout the 10-day show, it adds a new dimension, which we’re excited to see,” he said.
AutoShow attendees can looking to add some last-minute votes for their favourite can do so at autoshow.tunerbattlegrounds.com, where they can go to the profile page of their competitor of choice and click on the page’s gold star.
As for the cars on display at the show, a good mix of manufacturers is represented including Kia, Nissan, Subaru and Volkswagen. AutoShow general manager Jason Campbell says that the presence of Tuner Battlegrounds at this year’s show is in response to feedback the show has received in recent years from attendees looking to see more from tuner content.
“We’re happy to give Canada’s top enthusiasts a chance to show their stuff at the biggest automotive showcase in the country,” said Campbell, “and to answer the call from our consumers.”